Theodore Roethke (1908-1963) was born in Saginaw, Michigan. He was recognized by many as one of the greatest American poets of the twentieth century. Roethke taught at the University of Washington from 1947 until his death in 1963. There, he inspired a generation of poets, including Richard Hugo and many others who would become well-known. Afflicted with bouts of an undiagnosed mental illness but also possessed of a lust for life, Roethke produced a large and diverse body of works. Roethke enrolled at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1925. The first in his family to attend a university, he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa his senior year and graduated in 1929 magna cum laude. Heeding the wishes of his family, he set out to enter law school but soon tired of it. In the spring of 1930, he began studies at Michigan for a master's degree in literature. Roethke came to poetry late in life compared to many poets. He decided on his vocation while in graduate school. At the University of Washington, Roethke inspired and pushed his students to look at poetry in new ways.